The Spindle

by J. Darlene Everly

  “Troylus? Zellendine?” Briar asked near them, his voice sharp and higher than usual.

  Damn it, Troylus thought. He was going to have to pass helping Zellendine over to Briar, but he sure as hell didn’t want to.

  “Hey, Briar,” Troylus said, stopping, as tucked against the wall as he could make himself be, pulling Zellendine out of the flow of people so they could talk to his friend.

  “What’s this?” Briar’s voice shot out as he gestured to where they held hands.

  “A fight broke out in the cryo bay and I didn’t want to be around it even though I’m not very steady yet, so Troylus was helping me to my quarters. I thought everyone was waking up at the same time,” Zellendine said. Briar’s eyes narrowed as she spoke, and it took Troylus a second longer than it should have to notice anything other than Zellendine’s grip growing tighter on his.

  “Of course, you caused a fight by being a bitch first thing after waking up.” Briar’s words were like knives, Zellendine physically recoiling as each one hit.

  Troylus snapped his shocked gaze back to Briar’s completely silver eyes.

  Shit. His stomach filled with a weight like when he was entering the gravity of the ship after a walk.

  “No, Briar, she didn’t do anything wrong. I think you know that. You can figure it out,” Troylus said, biting back the ugly words he wanted to throw at him only because he knew Zellendine would be happier if Briar could get past the irrational rage like he had.

  “Fuck you, Troylus. Stay out of this.” Briar stepped closer to Zellendine. He loomed over her even though he wasn’t taller that she was. His rage was so big it made him seem larger, and his muscles were poised like he was about to attack.

  Troylus jerked her back and tucked her behind his own body. There was no damn way he was about to stand by while that happened.

  “Damn it, I said stay out of it.” Briar flung his arms out and connected with someone passing by.

  “Oof,” they said, their regular green eyes narrowed and a sneer formed on their face. “Watch it.”

  “You were in my way. You don’t get to talk to me like that,” Briar yelled, turning his wrath on the poor random person whose sneer left their face in a second as they backed up, their hands out in front of them.

  “Can you walk?” Troylus whispered to Zellendine.

  “I’m fine now,” Zellendine said, but she still leaned against the wall and grabbed at his uniform. “Don’t do it. Stay as far away as you can from whatever fight they’re about to start. If you get in a fight too, leadership could come down on you. You could lose the chance to go to the planet.”

  Her face was pinched and her gaze was hard, like she was trying to will him not to step in.

  “I can’t just let Briar get ruined by this either. He might be barred from going to the planet too. I know you want him there with you. Trust me,” he said, pulling her hand away from his uniform and stepping between Briar and the hapless passerby.

  3

  Zellendine

  She took a step toward them, reaching out to snatch Troylus back, but bodies moved and blocked her.

  People all around them were stopping and gawking, some even yelling, trying to egg them on. What was wrong with everyone?

  Zellendine tried to see, ducking down to look around the people in front of her. She couldn’t tell what they were saying to each other, but the random stranger finally turned to walk away while Briar pushed and shoved at Troylus who managed to stop him from going after the person. Her heart and her breathing were ragged as she tried to figure out what she would do to stop them from being kept off the planet.

  Finally, Briar pointed a finger in Troylus’s face and yelled something before he turned on his heel and walked away.

  Troylus rubbed his face with one hand and turned to spot her in the crowd.

  In front of her, the person blocking her view turned to face her.

  Silver eyes flashed before he snarled an unintelligible string of pure rage and lashed out with a hand, connecting with the arm she raised to block him from getting to her face.

  Her balance was still not perfect, the blow sent her toppling onto the floor of the hall.

  Above her, Troylus shoved the man so hard he crashed into the wall and slumped over, holding his head while blood poured from his nose.

  The people in the hallway looked on, shock and fear on so many strangers faces.

  Zellendine allowed Troylus to pull her to her feet and hustled with him down the hall to the next branch of corridor.

  She needed to go straight to her quarters, but her mind was flying trying to find a way to keep Troylus away from everyone until she knew how much trouble he was in.

  “Go to the orchard,” she said, shoving him toward the turn in the corridor, away from her path.

  “Why? I need to stay with you,” he said, raising his brow, a look full of warning and concern on his face.

  “I can get to my quarters without another run in. You need to go to the orchard and hide until I can make sure you’re not going to take the fall for all of that.” She shoved at him again, whipping her head back and forth, scanning the faces of the people walking the hall, looking for any sign of the leadership coming for him.

  Troylus looked around him then and wilted.

  “Fine, but come and get me as soon as you can. I don’t trust any of these people not to try and hurt you again.” He grabbed her hand and squeezed it before he turned and made his way toward the only place she could think might be less crowded onboard.

  She took a second to lean against the wall, taking deep breaths, and trying not to assume that everything was going to shit mere minutes after she woke up.

  Okay, she told herself, get to quarters, and get someone to help.

  At least she had a plan. Although the very thought of trusting anyone with the absolutely nonsense things that had happened, even though they were real, nauseated her. But she knew she couldn’t figure out what was happening to everyone on her own.

  There were only two people she thought might believe her, and only one she thought would be able to help her try and come up with an answer to why. Let alone how to stop it in time for them to land and make it work on the planet.

  Of all the things the Chapter was wrong about, she still believed that they would need all the people on the ship, the expertise and skills of all the different people and their different roles, to make a whole new civilization work.

  She had spent her entire life on board the Wheel, but at least some of the population remembered what it was like on a planet. She didn’t think they would make it without those people. If some of them were turning silver, if some of them started attacking those who didn’t have silver eyes, how long would it take before they were left far too weakened to make a new life on the planet?

  A shudder ran down her back as she finally reached the door to her quarters.

  Opening the door, she had a moment to wonder if she should knock first. She and her dad would be sharing their quarters, she had to remember that and act accordingly.

  But, for now, the only person inside was her dad, eating a bar at the table.

  Zellendine crossed the room to the table, feeling each step, the awakening and strengthening of her muscles that carried with it the kind of fatigue that always followed coming out of stasis. No matter how tired she was, she had to sit up straight and face her dad. She had to tell him the truth and hope he would believe her and help.

  “I don’t know what is going on with people right now, it has to be something about the crowds, but I think you should spend as little time as possible in the halls.” Stephen shook his head as he popped the last bite of his bar in his mouth.

  “The crowds sure don’t help,” she said, biting the inside of her cheek and willing herself to continue. But he beat her to it.

  “After the cryo bay I saw another exchange, barely even that, almost turn into a fight in the hallway. I thought you would have beat me here.”

  He go
t up from the table and puttered around the server, frowning at the meager offerings, before he decided on a drink.

  “Troylus and I had our own run in with fights in the halls,” she said, wondering which direction he went. He probably stopped by the clinic. That would explain how she had missed him — he came from the opposite way.

  “You did? Are you okay?” He turned and narrowed his eyes, examining her for any sign of injury.

  She waved a hand at him and shook her head.

  “I’m fine. But it’s a bit more complicated than that.”

  A line formed between his brows and he took his seat across from her again, folding his arms on top of the table and giving her every bit of his attention.

  Licking her lips, she told him everything he didn’t already know. Including the kiss and the way the sleepers had really been saved. His face changed a fraction at a time, but by the time she was finished explaining about the fights in the hall and where Troylus was, his mouth hung slightly open, his eyes were wide, and he seemed to be looking through her.

  Zellendine waited, her hands clenching and unclenching in her lap, while she hoped he would believe her and have some idea of how to help her figure it all out.

  “Where is Troylus? The orchard?” he asked, shaking his head, his face returning to animation as he stood up from the table.

  “Yes, but do you think it’s okay to go to him? What about leadership?” she asked, pushing herself to standing although she felt her body dragging and not wanting to do as she asked.

  “Leadership will be plenty busy with all of these fights. I doubt he’ll even be questioned. Besides, he only hit the person after they hit you. I don’t see how they could have a problem with that. If they do, I’ll make sure nothing comes of it.” He ushered her back out into the mass of people streaming down the hallway.

  This time she followed close in his wake and tried even harder not to touch any of the people she passed.

  Without Troylus there with them, she was worried both she and her dad would be targets.

  But they only passed one argument on the way, and that was being broken up by others, so they didn’t stop to intervene.

  Stephen would normally be the first person to try and make something like that better, but maybe her warnings about why they were happening had changed his mind. She sure hoped so. The last thing she wanted was for him to be hurt in all of this, but she was worried about everyone being hurt by each other over something none of them even understood, let alone could stop from happening.

  Making the last turn to the orchard, she missed a step and had to focus on just walking to keep going. What tripped her up was the realization that Troylus had managed to overcome whatever it was that caused the silver eyed people to rage at those around them.

  Her dad stopped, steps into the orchard, looking around.

  “Come on, I know where he is,” she said, walking into the trees.

  4

  Troylus

  He should have been able to fall asleep. In the past, the first three days after coming out of cryo were all struggles just to stay awake. But now… it was more than the stress. It was more than the thousand questions running through his brain.

  Troylus rubbed his hands over his face, a rough gesture that only woke him up more, and stared upward at the branches of the tree he watched the birds in.

  It was stupid for him to hope that other birds would be in the same tree, but he had. And they weren’t.

  Somewhere, not too far from where he lay sprawled on the ground, he heard a quick trill of one of the bird’s voices.

  At least that, and the rest of the orchard around him, felt like it wasn’t shifting so fast he couldn’t keep up with the flags coming at him. If he shut his eyes, he could even convince himself that the same nest would be above him on the branch when he opened them again.

  Footsteps, light but shuffling, sounded on the dirt near him and he popped open his eyes, trying to figure out if he should stay as still as possible and hope whoever it was didn’t notice him, or if he should try and hide.

  But through the trees, he spotted the shine of blonde hair and let out his breath in a whoosh. Zellendine.

  She should have been getting some food and some rest. They were supposed to take it easy when they first woke up. She had run headlong into a maelstrom of stress and even been hit. How she was still on her feet and coming to him, he didn’t know.

  But there she was, rounding a tree trunk and smiling as her shoulders relaxed.

  Maybe he should have sat up, instead of remaining prone on the ground with a goofy grin on his face, maybe he would have if she had hinted at all that her dad was right behind her.

  As soon as he spotted Stephen, Troylus scrambled to sit up and put his face back to his regular look of indifference. But she had surprised him and he wasn’t so sure he was hiding it well.

  “I wasn’t expecting you,” he said, kicking himself that it sounded like an accusation.

  “Why not?” Zellendine asked, taking a seat at his side. “I wasn’t going to just leave you here all night. You need to get some rest.”

  He hmmphed, thinking that she needed it more than he did.

  “Troylus,” she said, stretching a hand out like she was going to place it on his knee and then pulling it back to her lap. “I told Stephen.”

  Of all the things he thought she was going to say to explain her dad’s presence, that wasn’t one of them. And what, exactly, had she told him?

  “Everything.” Her voice was hushed and the gravity of Stephen, a member of leadership, knowing every secret he and Zellendine were keeping made his heart stutter in his chest.

  Stephen took a seat on his other side, looking deep into his eyes. Which would have been weird on its own, but the look Stephen had while he did it was like he was studying Troylus. Like Troylus was some kind of sample in front of him in the clinic.

  “For your professional opinion?” Troylus asked Stephen, who shook his head and gave him a rueful smile before he settled back to a less clinical stance.

  “Yes, in a way. Before we try and tackle the plan you two have come up with to deal with the computers,” Stephen said, looking between him and Zellendine while his brows knit together and relaxed again, “I want to run a quick scan of you so I might be able to figure out what is happening to everyone.”

  “What about leadership? Shouldn’t you be telling them everything?” Troylus asked, trying not to sound angry and failing. She could have talked to him about bringing her dad into this.

  “Maybe, but I don’t tell them a lot of what goes on in the clinic. Until I need to tell them something, until we have something to tell them, I’m going to consider this a personal medical matter.”

  Troylus looked to Zellendine, who did reach out to place a barely there touch on his knee.

  He blew out his breath then squeezed his lips together at the open and trusting look on her face.

  “You think I should do this?” he asked, the bitter tone finally gone, he realized that now he sounded scared. Which… he was.

  “Of all the people on this ship that we can trust, my dad and yours are the only people I think we should try to. I don’t even know where to start,” she said, dropping her hand back into her lap and following it with her eyes.

  Good job, asshole, he told himself, you made her feel bad.

  “Alright.” He had to stop himself from smiling when her head snapped back up and she looked at him, her face full of hope and determination. He had seen it before when she was on a mission to wake the sleepers.

  “How long should I hang out here? When will you find out from leadership if I’m going to get in trouble for all of this?” He swallowed, and tried to pretend that he wasn’t worried he would never get to see the planet, that he wasn’t hoping he wouldn’t end up in the same kind of trial that Zellendine was in. Would she testify for him? Would that ploy work a second time?

  Stephen just smiled and stood up, brushing off his pants.

>   “Don’t worry about leadership. There were so many fights, they won’t be able to discipline everyone, and I’m going to tell them you were protecting someone else.” Stephen turned and walked to the edge of the little clearing before he turned back around. “Are you two coming, or not?”

  Zellendine got up and pulled him to his feet while her father disappeared into the trees.

  “What are we doing right now? Because I think I missed something,” Troylus said, still stuck on the fact that Stephen just said he was going to defend him with leadership.

  “Just come to the clinic with us real quick and then we’re all going to finally get some sleep,” Zellendine said, slipping her arm through his and leaning on him as they walked.

  “Are you exhausted? You could go to quarters now, you don’t have to stay with me,” he said, his voice low and even although he didn’t feel even. He wanted her to stay with him as long as possible, but she needed sleep.

  “No,” she said, laughing, “I mean, yes. I am tired, but no, I’m staying.” She bumped him in the side with her elbow and he managed to suppress a toothy smile into just a grin.

  “So, have you changed your mind about the quarters assignments after you’ve met your new roommates?” His grin fell from his lips with the words. Whoever she would be sharing a room with might not be someone who would want to hurt her, but he also didn’t want it to be someone who would fall for her either. It was bad enough for Briar and her to be together and he had to deal with his jealousy and bitterness about that, he wasn’t sure he would be able to not be an asshole if there was another one.

  “Are you a little green?” she asked, a smug smile on her face.

  “Of course I’m jealous. You’re going to partner with Briar, someone else gets to spend a bunch of time with you away from crowds, and the whole time all I get to do is worry that someone is going to attack you again.”

  Zellendine pulled her arm from his and turned the corner into the steady stream of people in the hall, leaving him to trail behind her.